The Palo Verde Panthers will square off against the Las Vegas Wildcats at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Palo Verde is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-2 win over Bishop Gorman.
Tanner Johns spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on six hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Palo Verde saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Luke Herrera, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas faced Centennial in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Wildcats had just enough and edged out the Bulldogs 5-4. The game was the first time the Wildcats have beaten the Bulldogs on their field since May 10, 2019.
TANNER VIBABUL was excellent, going 1-for-4 with three stolen bases, two RBI, and one run. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of JUSTIN ROMERO, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one run and one RBI.
Las Vegas is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 22-10 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.2 runs on average over those games. As for Palo Verde, their win bumped their record up to 23-9.
Friday's contest will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Palo Verde hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .365. However, it's not like Las Vegas struggles in that department as they've averaged .334. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Everything went Palo Verde's way against Las Vegas in their previous meeting back in March, as Palo Verde made off with a 10-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
